During the recent floods, the contract employees of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) came in for much praise for quickly repairing the telephone lines, despite their salaries not getting paid for the past six months.
The employees, who began a day-night protest on Tuesday in front of the Chief General Manager’s office after the management failed to respond to their two-month long protest, are now mulling even harsher steps, including a complete striking of work. On Tuesday, leaders of the BSNL Casual Contract Labour Union (CCLU) held talks with the General Manager regarding pending wages, but no decisive answer came forth.
Says BSNL CCLU Secretary K. Mohanan, “The GM says that the corporate office has not yet cleared the funds. The office has demanded a 30% cut in expenditure, which the administration here is trying to achieve by forcing the contract staff to retire. In the past few months, close to 2,000 contract staff have been asked to leave. We asked them to constitute a committee consisting of representatives of officers, permanent employees and contract staff to study how we can save on expenditure, and put on hold forced retirements until then. But the management has not heeded this suggestion. BSNL cannot be saved by throwing out contract staff, who play a key role in maintenance work. It can only be improved by expanding the service and providing services like 4G, which the Union government has not yet cleared for BSNL,” says Mr. Mohanan.
No gratuity yet
The contract staff who were asked to leave have not been given the gratuity or other benefits, with even the pending wages being given only recently following a High Court order. The company has also reportedly not paid the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) for these staff in recent months. Even while the contract staff is being retrenched, the company has moved to outsource tower maintenance and other ground operations to private companies.
With hardly any response to their ongoing strike, the BSNL CCLU has decided to meet the Kerala Governor on September 4 and submit a memorandum. On the same day, a protest march will be taken out to the CGM’s office. On September 10, a day ahead of Onam, a hunger strike will be held in all districts. If there is no response till September 19, contract staff across the State will go on an indefinite strike.
“Till date, even without wages, the contract staff has continued working,” says Mr.Mohanan.
